Posts Tagged ‘Michael-David Winery’

Jeremy Wilson – a sommelier who writes the Texas Wine Lover site and lives in the officially recognized Texas Hill Country AVA (approved in 1991), where he works for Kuhlman Cellars – recently wrote to us, telling us that he believes the Lodi AVA has a lot in common with the Texas wine industry. Not knowing a lot about Texas wines, we asked Mr. Wilson to help us catch his drift. His immediate response: “Our high quality winemaking movement is still so young that many people are totally unaware that we even have a wine industry in Texas. Our wines weren’t much.. VIEW MORE »

As we come to the end of another year in Lodi wine country, let’s look back at some of the highlights of 2014 gleaned through widely read wine publications and blog sites. Just a small percentage of American wine lovers subscribe to Decanter, a publication in the U.K. that bills itself “The World’s Best Wine Magazine.” There’s a lot to be said for this, though, because the English are arguably the most sophisticated wine lovers in the world. Universally respected organizations such as the Court of Master Sommeliers as well as the Institute of Masters of Wine were founded.. VIEW MORE »

The second week of September is usually when the California grape harvest is just getting started. This year, at this same time, many growers and vintners are saying that they are more than a third of the way through. Why the accelerated time table? Three things conspired to upset 2014’s grape carts to some extent: • Spring bud break and flowering occurred two weeks (or more) ahead of normal, pushing up harvest dates accordingly. • Because grape vines respond to year-to-year variables, the larger than usual crop sizes of the two previous vintages (2012 and 2013) pre-ordained a more moderate.. VIEW MORE »

In seminars at the 2014 Zinfandel Advocates & Producers Experience (i.e. ZAP) in San Francisco this past January, some of California’s top sommeliers presented Zinfandels from their perspective: in terms of terroir, or “sense of place.” Why terroir; and not, say, varietal character? The Zinfandel grape produces red wines that, more than others, are usually appreciated or evaluated in terms of their fruit profile – a rich, full, often jammy berryishness – rather than sensations reflecting geographic origins. But for many wine lovers, Zinfandel can be just as noble a varietal as, say, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, or any other.. VIEW MORE »

This past June 14, 2014, when the California State Fair announced the top awards resulting from its famously rigorous wine judging taking place in Sacramento each year, one Lodi winery loomed significantly among the winners: Lodi’s Michael David Winery. Michael David’s two awards: “Best Petite Sirah” – 2012 Michael David Earthquake Lodi Petite Sirah ($26) “Best Lodi Red” – 2012 Michael David Inkblot Lodi Cabernet Franc ($35) Michael David is easily the largest of Lodi’s premium wineries; having grown from just a couple thousand cases in the early nineties to over 450,000 cases produced each year. Today, Michael David’s brands.. VIEW MORE »